BBC SPORT 17 NOV 2021- Edouard Mendy had a relatively low profile when he arrived at Chelsea in September 2020 as competition for the world’s most expensive goalkeeper.
The Senegal international was even viewed by some as a temporary alternative to the error-prone Kepa Arrizabalaga, with his £22m move from Rennes a fraction of the £71m outlaid on the Spaniard.
But a little more than 12 months on, Mendy has a Champions League winners medal and is the man behind the Premier League’s meanest defence.
And his form has even earned him a major upgrade in the latest ratings update on Fifa22.
So how did Mendy go from consecutive relegations and several months of unemployment earlier in his career to a position where he is now, perhaps, the best goalkeeper in the world?
Mendy has kept nine clean sheets in all competitions so far this season and made a number of pivotal saves to ensure Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea sit top of the Premier League with the division’s best defensive record.
He has managed 25 clean sheets in all competitions since the start of 2021, a figure which is higher than the number of goals he has conceded (24) in the same period.
And it is easy to see why his impact has been compared with those of Alisson at Liverpool and Ederson at Manchester City, with both arriving in England and helping their clubs to Premier League titles.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former Manchester United defender and pundit Gary Neville said: “If you’re going to win a title, there are going to be games where you don’t play well, you don’t deserve to win the game but your goalkeeper makes two or three world-class saves.
“He has made that difference. If you think of Kepa in goal for Chelsea when Frank [Lampard] was there, it was a big problem – they were conceding too many goals.
“It’s a lot more difficult to score against Chelsea, not just because of the change to the back five, which Tuchel brought in, but also the goalkeeper.”
The manner in which Mendy reprimanded team-mate Hakim Ziyech in Chelsea’s recent Champions League victory at Malmo – for allowing an opponent the space to create an opportunity – underlined his commanding presence.
Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin, a BBC Radio 5 Live pundit, said: “There have been very few times he has had to do it but he is growing in stature.
“He is also in same boat as everyone else because Kepa has improved so he will be aware that he has to be on top of his game.
“As a shot-stopper he is brilliant, his reactions are good and he is incredibly brave. He certainly had some decision making issues at the start. He has been more reticent about coming out but he has good people there working with him from Petr Cech down and he has improved with his feet.
“All the areas where there were questions, he is answering. You can see him growing in every part of his game. He has control of his box.”
Fellow pundit Rio Ferdinand calls Mendy a goalkeeper who “instils confidence in a backline”, while former Chelsea forward Tony Cascarino says he is one of the club’s “best-ever signings”.
